For those of you who've followed me over here to my new TWB blog from Calm Things, you know that our daughter Chloe went away to college this past fall. She's our one and only and I think we've done a great job of over-parenting her for the last 18 years, lol. In spite of that, she's turned into a fun, graceful, hardworking, really focussed young woman. 

I truly anticipated that we'd have a ton ups and downs this fall. So, in September, right after we dropped her off in her dorm in a college completely across the country from us, I came home and booked myself a trip to see her at Thanksgiving (which was this past weekend in Canada). As it turns out, there really hasn't been any drama. She's adjusted beautifully to college dorm life - she does her laundry and grocery shopping and cooking and is keeping up on all her assignments. She feels like she's exactly where she needs to be right now and so do we. She gets along great with her wonderful roommate. It honestly couldn't be going any better. 

So maybe the trip wasn't strictly necessary, but oh, it was great to give her hugs and just BE with her. We did crazy stuff like go to Sears to buy her a toaster. I visited her dorm room, we hung out in my hotel room (below). 

We also went out for dinner, thanks to my sister giving me a gift card to Milestone's before I left. Turns out they have this special dessert right now - a S'mores Sundae. "Perfect for sharing," the server says. Wow, no kidding. We didn't realize the thing would be as big as our heads, but made a valiant effort nonetheless. 

When I left Edmonton, it had been snowing all night, was still snowing, and the road to the airport was slow going. Arriving in Ontario though! Summer all over again. Fantastic. 

We went for a few walks, soaked up some sun, slothed around. I watched her play her favourite video game. She drew, I took photos. It was really perfect. And I only hyperventilated a little when I sent her back to her dorm in a taxi. This is normal, right?

We didn't eat any turkey this weekend. But this didn't stop us being thankful for all sorts of things. Rob and I are grateful for this kid, how well-adjusted and happy she is. The weekend went by far too quickly, but hey, she'll be back for Christmas and won't that be lovely. 

2016